Category Archives: Uncategorized

Carrie Blast Furnaces

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I’m in Pittsburgh for the long weekend. Today I took a tour with Rivers of Steel of the Carrie Blast Furnaces. The area is part of the former U.S. Steel Homestead Steel Works. Blast Furnaces #6 and #7 and the accompanying equipment is all that remains of the site. The site is really interesting, and the tour was lead by a former iron worker who used to work at a similar type of facility. It was rather amazing to hear such first hand knowledge. I admit I did not catch everything, but the tour was fascinating. It was also incredibly interesting and fun to photograph. I’ve tried to name things in the captions of the photos below, but I may have gotten some of it wrong. I should have taken notes while on the tour. If you are in Pittsburgh, I highly recommend the tour. It is a wonderful tour of some incredible history.

Generator building

Blast furnace in foreground and supply crane in background

Supply train area

Supply train area

Supply train area

Crane

Carrie Blast Furnaces

Close up of stoves

Skip Bridge

Blast furnace

Near stoves

Near stoves

Near stoves

Bottom of blast furnance

Iron notch

Molten iron car

New Year’s Resolution: Less Stuff

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I have moved three times as an adult. The first time my new employer payed for me to move. Nicely, this included two stops, so they picked up my stuff at my mom’s house in Houston, then my stuff in my apartment in College Station where I had been pursuing my Master’s, and then moved everything to Austin. The next two times I moved, I paid. The first was to North Carolina where I was going back to school to earn my Doctorate. The final time I have moved, it was from North Carolina to Virginia to start my new career. My new employer did not pay for me to move. That was unfortunately part of the hiring deal because for whom I work. For both times I paid to move myself, I knew months in advance of the move. [With the second time, it was really a guess that I was going to find a job that most likely was not near where I lived.] Thus, I spent months critically going through my house getting rid of stuff I really did not need or want. Sometimes that was admitting to myself that as much as I loved my grandmother, I really did not need such and such knickknack or other thing she had bought me. I refused to pay to move stuff I really did not need or want. Getting rid of stuff was good. It felt good. My house looked better. Less stuff to dust.

So now here I am in Virginia for almost nine years. (!) I have no plans to go anywhere. I like it here, and I don’t want to move. However, I realize I have somehow accumulated more stuff that I don’t need or want. Over the years I have gotten rid of some stuff. I donated some clothes a few times. I trashed some stuff. But still there is stuff. I want to do a bit of redecorating, but I need to clear some space first.

I think part of the issue is that I realize my tastes change. I wear different types of clothes then I used to. To a certain extent, I dress a little more professionally than when I was a full time student, but also just my tastes have changed. I have never been fashionable, but it simply that my tastes have changed. I wear different types of jewelry than I used to. I don’t like big or really dangly earrings anymore. I also can’t wear big or dangly earrings in the winter because they tend to catch the scarves I am always wearing when it is cold. Even though I still go out to the theater a lot, I tend to go on weeknights straight from work, so I wear work clothes. I don’t get dressed up just for the theater.

Then there are purses. I used to love to have tons of purses that I would change with my outfits. I liked small purses, just big enough for my wallet and a few things. Now I have one medium purse that I use all the time. I need a durable purse that is big enough for a normal sized book, because I always have a book with me. Thus, I realize I have way, way too many purses. Some are just plain too small. Some are too big. Some someone gave me, and it doesn’t quite work for me. Some I just don’t like anymore. Some though I bought not so much to wear but because they are practically works of art. If I have too many of those though, I can’t see or find any of them.

Oh and then the shoes. I have always restricted myself to comfortable shows. I don’t wear high heels. I have a few weaknesses though. However, I walk everywhere now, so shoes really have to be comfortable. Even my dress up shoes need to be comfortable because there will be walking between public transit and the theater.

So it’s New Year’s Day. I have the day off, and I have decided to start the year right by ruthlessly going through my stuff and getting rid of stuff. I am not going anywhere, but I really don’t need this much stuff. It is clutter. It collects dust. It has been somewhat distressing and at the same time cleansing to realize I have 15 purses collecting dust that I have not worn in a very long time or ever. I have nine pairs of earrings that I am never going to wear again. There is other stuff of course, but those are the worst offenders. I am resolving to donate all this stuff to charity this month. Get it out of the house. Someone will probably appreciate the stuff I no longer want.

The bigger and harder resolution though is not collect so much stuff. I think I have started getting better about really questioning myself if I want or need something. Also before buying I try to figure out where it will go. Lately when traveling, I have started to buy fewer but more exceptional pieces when I travel. No more crappy t-shirts and knickknacks but instead a beautiful handmade table runner or pashmina or an original painting.

So there is my New Year’s Resolution: less stuff. Get rid of stuff I have that I don’t want or need. Accumulate less stuff in the future.

Life Today

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Another day, another mass shooting in the United States. When I was a child, I can remember fire drills. I remember tornado drills. Active shooter drills did not exist. Now they do.

Today I spent part of my work day completing a whole bunch of mandatory training. One training was on information technology security. In my opinion, the training was stupid, but then again I am more informed than others. I know not to share my password with anyone.  I know not to open unknown files. I take many precautions to protect my sensitive information, like shredding even vaguely sensitive documents. The irony of the training being that it was in fact my employer and its inadequate security that was hacked months back and allowed my personal information to be stolen. My social security number may have been compromised. My employer is now paying for credit monitoring for me. When I was in college, professors posted our social security numbers with our grades as a way to allow us to find our grades and keep them anonymous. Now, posting social security numbers wouldn’t be allowed. They are too sensitive. Because of the internet, there are things I have to worry about that I never did as a child, but I still love the internet. I don’t want to go back to life without it.

I am not one of those people who likes to talk about how things were better when they were young. I love the internet. I love my smart phone. I love my energy efficient light bulbs and appliances. I love indoor plumbing. I love that I can be and am a female engineer. I love that I live in a country with clean air and water, and I don’t have to worry if my drinking water is safe or if the food I buy is contaminated. I love that vaccines exist. A hundred years ago women couldn’t vote. Until the mid-1800s, slavery existed. So, no, I don’t want to go backwards. The world has never been perfect. We have always had violence. People have always stereotyped and hated people for stupid reasons. People have always blamed others for whatever problem. We don’t seem to be able to get rid of violence or prejudice or hatred. This makes me very sad. We have made technological progress. We have made astounding progress in medicine and public health. We have made progress in civil rights. Why can’t we make progress in ending the hatred and violence? Why must we keep killing each other?

Delivery Fail

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I buy a lot of stuff online. I hate malls. I would much rather shop while sitting in front of my computer. Also, I can find a much better selection of many things online. I specifically shop at Amazon.com a lot. Several months ago, I joined Amazon Prime that guarantees free two day delivery. Well, it’s free after you pay the Amazon Prime membership fee. I’ve never had a problem with Amazon Prime deliveries or almost any other delivers. Every once in a while I get a delivery that is considered too expensive or big that they won’t deliver it without me being present, but it is pretty rare. When I ordered my new DSLR camera I couldn’t even leave a signature slip, but considering how much my new camera is worth, I was fine with needing to receive it in person. I’ve had big and small boxes left on my doorstep by FedEx, UPS, and USPS. Huge box with my new dining room chandelier: check. Bulk tea: check. Kindle: check. Several large boxes of Fiestaware: check. Athletic shoes: check. Box filled with jars of peanut butter: check. You get it. I order it. They leave it on my doorstep. I live on a busy street in a safe neighborhood. My doorstep has a balcony above it, so rain is not an issue, and the doorstep is far enough back and obscured enough by geography and vegetation that it is not amazingly obvious that there is package sitting there.

Wednesday I ordered a $23 book, specifically a field guide for birds of Europe, from Amazon with guaranteed delivery Friday. So imagine my surprise when I get an email from Amazon Friday night that stated “UPS attempted to deliver your package but was unable to leave the package unattended.” I’m thinking, really, UPS left my new Kindle on my doorstep, but they are worried about a $23 bird book? I mean I know us birders sometimes have a reputation as being somewhat crazy, but generally we don’t go stealing each other’s bird books. Of course, the book was supposed to be in a box, so no one would know what it is unless Amazon has taken to really new labeling on the packages. I call UPS and ask what is going on and why wouldn’t they leave it unattended. UPS informs me that they actually handed the package off to the USPS, so I need to contact them. So the UPS tracking number that Amazon gave me is pretty much worthless because UPS only tracks it as far as a municipality near mine where they evidently turned it over to the USPS for finally delivery.

Here is the best part about the fact that it was USPS that couldn’t deliver the package: I was home when the mail arrived. My mail is delivered through a slot in my door. I heard it this morning when it arrived. No one knocked at my door or rang my doorbell to try to deliver a package that wouldn’t fit through the mail slot. I did leave the house later in the day, but I presume the whole point of UPS handing the package to USPS, is that the USPS can just deliver the package when they deliver the mail. It makes no sense for USPS to make two trips to my house, the 1st with my regular mail and a 2nd with the package. Furthermore, after UPS told me that it USPS that couldn’t leave the package unattended, I opened the front door and checked. No package and no notice stating that a package couldn’t be delivered was there. So, precisely how the heck am I supposed to know that someone, anyone attempted to deliver a package but couldn’t because I wasn’t there? How am I supposed to know that I need to be home on some (hopefully stated) day in the future? How am I supposed to be able to leave a signature noting that I am perfectly fine with them leaving a $23 bird book sitting on my doorstep?

Then I contact Amazon via a live chat (of which I will copy and paste the conversation from the email with the chat transcript), and I ask them where is my package. He helpfully informs me “They will again try to deliver. By Monday. You must get your item shortly.” Well in the first place, I was guaranteed delivery by Friday. I then said “Well I won’t be home Monday, and they did not leave a slip for me to sign, and since they don’t knock on my door there is no point to the slip anyway.” He patiently tells me “you can try to contact your local post office.” At this point I realize that Amazon like so many other companies obviously has their customer service people in another country because what US resident would suggest you call your local post office?! In the first place, I am not even sure which specific branch is my “local” post office. There are two relatively close to me. Second, have you ever tried to get a human being on the phone at your local post office? Third, the final leg of the UPS tracking has the package in a nearby municipality, but not my municipality. I have no idea form where the postal worker who delivers my mail actually works. I don’t know if they are at my “local” post office or a larger regional one. I have no idea. Fourth, I don’t have a USPS tracking number for the package so what good would it do to call them? As far as I know USPS doesn’t use UPS tracking numbers. Heck, one of the reasons many companies use FedEx and UPS is that they offer easy tracking as opposed to USPS, which really doesn’t. I explain this to the Amazon rep, who once again just states that I should contact USPS. Then I ask “Why did Amazon tell whoever that it couldn’t just be left on my door?” Amazon rep states “A signature is typically required for packages where the total value is more than $250. A signature may still be required for a package where the total value is less than $250; it’s up to the driver’s discretion. We can’t instruct shipping companies how or when to leave packages at a shipping address. Your package was shipped by a special service called UPS Mail Innovations. UPS takes these shipments from our fulfillment centers and transports them to the U.S. Post Office closest to the delivery destination. The U.S. Postal Service will make the final delivery.” This is amazing information to me. I have shipped packages via USPS before, and if want a signature or anything other them just dropping the package off, you have to pay extra for it. Same with FedEx and UPS. I can remember getting packages ready for shipment for FedEx, and there was a little box that you checked if a signature was required. However Amazon with its vast shipping demand is completely unable to tell delivery companies that it doesn’t want a signature? What they heck? And why this of all the packages ever delivered to my house would need a signature? AND HOW ARE THEY GOING TO GET ONE IF THEY NEITHER KNOCK ON MY DOOR NOR LEAVE A SLIP FOR ME TO SIGN?!

So somewhere out there is my bird book. I can only assume it is sitting in a USPS warehouse surrounded by electrified barbed wire and a moat being patrolled by guard dogs and guards with machine guns. I also assume there are lasers and sound detectors and sirens involved. I mean since my package is so dang valuable that they can’t leave it on my doorstep like almost every other package then they clearly think it contains a true treasure that needs that kind of protection. When will I get it? No idea as I’ve got no way to track it now. How will I know when it has arrived? Presumably when the postal worker feels I am ready to receive this valuable book, he or she will sound a trumpet, as opposed to my doorbell or door-knocker, to let me know of its arrival and give me an opportunity to receive it. Perhaps my house did not look welcoming enough yesterday, so I was only allowed to receive my regular mail but not the treasured bird book. Is a red carpet and fresh flowers needed? It’s a bird book, perhaps I should leave bird food out on the front doorstep to welcome its arrival. Who knows? Maybe the USPS knows its content and will only allow the book to be delivered by an actual bird from Europe. I may have to wait until the spring migration. This of course brings up a very important question. Just what is the  the air-speed velocity of an unladen European swallow? And what would be the air-speed of a European swallow ladened with my bird book? Perhaps a European white stork will be necessary to bring the bird book with a stork’s better carrying capacity. If I ever receive my bird book, I will let everyone know.

Saturday morning update: When I heard the mail come through the mail slot this morning, I went outside to see if the package was sitting on the doorstep. There was no package, but the mail carrier’s vehicle was in front of my house, so I waited for her to return. When she came back to the vehicle, I told her the story about the package. She said she was off on Friday, but she couldn’t understand why the other carrier wouldn’t leave the package. She said she leaves packages on my doorstep all the time. I nodded, laughed, and said I know, I’ve never had a problem. I told her I suspected that perhaps USPS might have the package, it had not gotten to the location where the actual carrier would have it. She asked if I had a USPS tracking number, and I said no, they only gave me a UPS one, which she agreed is useless to her. She promised that she would check with the Friday carrier and bring the book to me today if she could find it.

As I was typing this update, my doorbell rang, and it was my mail carrier with my package. I asked what happened. She said it was given to a different mail carrier, and it was supposed to be delivered today. I am not clear if it was given to a different mail carrier by mistake or design or what. I thanked her profusely and wished her a great weekend.

Conclusions:

  1. The method of FedEx or UPS giving a package to USPS for the final leg is a great idea and obviously saves money, but if they don’t give you a tracking number for the USPS leg, it is impossible to find out what happened or where your package is.
  2. Amazon, UPS, and USPS have horrible customer service when it comes to this delivery method.
  3. UPS and Amazon just plain lied. I don’t know if UPS told Amazon they couldn’t leave the package unattended, which would be stupid since they were not supposed to be the one leaving the package, or if Amazon just made up that nonsense when they got some sort of notification that the package was not delivered as guaranteed.
  4. If Amazon is going to continue guaranteeing two day Amazon Prime delivery with this delivery method than they better figure out what went wrong, especially if what my mail carrier is true that the package was not supposed to be delivered until today.
  5. Amazon makes it dang near impossible to figure out as an Amazon Prime customer what I get if they do not fulfill their two day delivery promise. They’re website says they will refund shipping costs if they don’t deliver as guaranteed, but I am still trying to figure out what an Amazon Prime customer gets. Oh good, I get to deal with their customer service again.
  6. I have a very nice USPS carrier, who by far gave much better customer service than Amazon or UPS.

Saturday afternoon update: I have back from Amazon customer service based on my blog post. The Amazon customer service rep yesterday gave me a $10 promotional credit to compensate for the missed delivery. Amazon responded to my tweet and asked me to submit comments by following a link. I did this and simply gave the blog post link. This second customer service rep also extended my Amazon Prime membership by a month. Conclusion: It pays to complain and complain in a public manner.

Finding New Friends

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Three years ago today, I had just gotten back from a very short trip to Washington, DC to have an in-person interview for the job I now have. It was a whirlwind trip. I had had a phone interview less than a week before, and then they called me the next day to ask me to come up for an in-person interview. Three days later I was driving up to DC from North Carolina for the interview. I was about to leave to visit family for Christmas, and they needed to finalize interviews and get someone to accept the position rather quickly. I was formally, unofficially offered the position a few days later. I had to finish some paperwork before it could become completely official. Then the stress and insanity of moving started: packing my house, finding a place to live in DC, opening and closing bank accounts and utilities, etc.

I had graduated with my Ph.D. back in May. I had started applying for jobs even before I graduated. The job market was tight. However, there certain places where I did not apply for a job. I’m a Southern girl, and I simply would not survive in a climate that was too cold. I don’t drive in the snow; four year of college in Colorado taught me that fact. I wanted to to live in a city with things to do. I love going to museums, performing arts, some sporting events, and whatever. I wanted to be someplace where there were things to do, so when I got a job in DC, I was excited. There would be tons of things to do. I love nature and hiking, so the fact that DC has so many parks and is so close to mountains and beaches was just an absolute bonus.

The only downside to moving to DC was that I knew only one person there, a good friend from college. That was it. I was a little worried about moving to a place where I knew virtually no one, but I had done it before for college, graduate school for my Master’s, my first real job (where luckily my sister was then living), and then graduate school again for my Ph.D. I’m really a shy person, and I’m a total introvert. Moving where I don’t know anyone scares the crap out of me, but I do it when I need to. I worry about meeting people, making friends, and fitting in.

This past Thursday, I was out with friends at happy hour. The group meets about once a  month and is mainly science nerds. People come when they can, and we always welcome new people. I can’t describe how great a group it is, how fun the people are, how welcoming and accepting everyone is. The best I can say is that I have felt welcome since the first time I came to one of the events almost 2.5 years ago. Thursday my friends were making me laugh so hard I could barely breathe at one point, at several points actually. I was laughing so hard no sound was coming out of me.  It is entirely possible I am the nerdiest of my nerd friends, but they accept me for who I am and how nerdy I am, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. There are other events I go to, other friends I have made, and they are all fun and wonderful. I found the friends I was so worried about finding three years ago. I have found a home in DC, both in the physical sense of a house I love and a place where I find fun things to do, but I have also found a home in the emotional sense of community where I am accepted and find joy and laughter. I can’t thank my new friends enough. I love you all, and you are all wonderful and bring so much joy to my life.

Cicada Attacks Teddy Roosevelt

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At the National’s games, in the middle of the fourth inning, the Presidents race. Evidently, poor Teddy Roosevelt has only won few times. At today’s game against the Minnesota Twins, Teddy had an early lead, breaking far away from the rest of the pack. Then he got attacked by a giant 17 year cicada. Seriously, he did. Poor guy was left on the ground while the rest raced by him. Then George Washington won. I think George Washington won. At that point I was too confused by the fact that Teddy got attacked by a cicada. I thought cicadas were harmless but noisy insects. Evidently they can be vicious. On a side note, I am beginning to wonder if the President’s race might be fixed.President's race 1 President's race 2 President's race 3 President's race 4 President's race 5 President's race 6 President's race 7

Dampening Citizen Involvement

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I moved to my new house and metro area about a year and a half ago. I paid a premium on my house because it is in a municipality that is very close to the main downtown area and is a downtown area onto itself. My house is a block from a street, which I will call CP, that is a major bus corridor. A bus comes by my stop on CP every few minutes to various subway stations. I can take the bus home until rather late in the evenings and really late on weekends. I can take the bus to the grocery and as I indicated in a previous post, I can take my cat to the vet on it. I take public transportation to church on Sundays. I absolutely love it. I can go weeks without using my car. I know many people who can’t bear to not use their car, but I’m not one of them. Yes, I have to wait for a bus, but I get exercise walking around, and I don’t have to deal with the absolutely insane traffic in the area.

For the most part I love my new area and specifically my municipality. I think for the most part, the municipality is designed to support those of us who like to walk and bike. I have had one annoyance for a while that has to do with the above mentioned street CP. When crossing CP at most, if not all, intersections, you have to press one of those buttons to get the pedestrian walk symbol and countdown. However you only have to do this when actually crossing CP and thus walking in a north or south direction. If you are crossing one of streets that intersect CP, thus you are walking parallel to CP or in a east or west direction, then you automatically get a pedestrian walk symbol and countdown when it is safe. I have yet to figure out a logical reason for this. I have to cross CP every weekday morning to get to my bus stop to go to work. I also cross CP and its intersecting streets at various intersections at other times. As far as I have observed, just as many people cross CP as cross its intersecting streets. Because of the way the bus stops are located, essentially diagonally across the intersections, you would expect people to be going in all directions. Obviously I have thought about this for a while, and I would like to get it changed so that when crossing CP, the pedestrian walk symbol automatically comes on. Too many times, I have had either had to wait out an entire traffic light cycle because I wasn’t sure if I had enough time to cross, or I have had to gamble and quickly get across the intersection watching the traffic light the whole time to see if I need to run. To me, this is a safety issue. Too many people cross CP to catch a bus, and I would bet that there are constantly people crossing when it is not safe because they don’t realize how little time is left.

Thus, I am determined to see if I can get things changed. I have no delusions that I could just call someone up at the municipality and get things changed in a couple of weeks. However, things don’t get changed if no one tries. I have been searching for a while with whom I need to talk. Last week I met someone who gave me the name of a municipality staff person who might be able to help. I also found out that there is a citizen pedestrian advisory board. I decided the best place to start was with this board.

At this point, I should explain that before I moved to this new metro area, I lived in a small college town. The college being where I got my Ph.D. I love this little town, and during my seven years there, I got involved in numerous ways. One way I got involved was by being a member of the town pedestrian and bicycle advisory board for five years. Being a member of this board is an unpaid, partially thankless job, that many people would hate, but that I liked. Members are appointed by the town council and are citizens of the town and surrounding areas. Like other advisory boards, we reviewed special use permit applications for things under our purview. Staff would have already reviewed the applications, but we looked at them for the standpoint of, for example, they have the required number of bicycle parking spots but are they in a safe and useful location. We did other things and worked with other boards and departments, but the goal was to help give input as active cyclists and pedestrians to improve our town. Our meetings were always open, and on a regular basis, citizens would come to our meetings to complain about something or seek our support on something else. We couldn’t always help, but we always listened and tried our best to see what could be done. Many times things would come down to limited funds. Many times things would come down to reality or legalities.

In my old town, getting the advisory board’s support added more weight to its importance with the staff and town council. So when I found out that my new municipality has a citizen pedestrian advisory board, I thought this was the best place to start. They meet once a month, and there was one tonight. It started at 7, so I went straight from work. I was hoping to say my peace, perhaps stay for a little bit to see how things worked, then catch a bus home and get dinner. Oh the best laid plans of mice and men. . . I made some assumptions that the meeting would be at least partially like my old town’s. The town was a municipality of less than 60,000 people, and there were nine members of the advisory board. The first thing on our agendas was to welcome new people and ask if there was a specific reason they were there. They were of course welcome always, but most of the time people come to the meetings for a specific reason. My new municipality has a population close to 220,000. I figured the board might be larger, and the meetings have a larger attendance. Then, I got to the meeting, and there are six other people there. One of those people was actually presenting something to the board and wasn’t a member. Another person walked in late, and I never found out who he was. At the beginning of the meeting everyone introduced themselves, I said I had lived here for a year and a half, and I am one of those annoying citizens with a demand (or something to that effect). I said it with a laugh and a smile, and everyone took it as a joke. The staff person then introduced himself as a staff person who deals with annoying, demanding citizens. The meeting started with a person presenting information about an ongoing project. He then left, and the chair immediately brought up another item on the agenda. They discussed several items for quite a while, and most of the time I didn’t understand what they were talking about as they were issues with which I was not familiar. At no point, did they ever ask me why I was there. They never asked me what my demand was that I had joked about when I introduced myself. It just didn’t seem to occur to them. I have to wonder if they ever get members of the public just show up at their meetings. They were nice to me, but evidently they thought I was just there to watch them. I have no idea.

I finally had to leave the meeting at 8:40. I needed to catch a bus that only came every half hour. I was really hungry, and I had no idea if I would ever be allowed to speak about why I was there. When I got up, the chair thanked me for coming. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but I finally asked when do they allow for items not on the agenda for people like me. Again, I don’t remember exactly what he said, but I got the impression that 1. they don’t get many people like me wanting to discuss something not on their agenda and 2. if someone like me shows up, they are just supposed to say their peace when they get there. I have no idea if that is really what they expect. Their meetings are really informal, and perhaps they don’t actually vote on anything. Perhaps because on my old town’s board, we did vote on things, we had an agenda and followed, or tried to follow, Robert’s Rules. I was never given an agenda for this meeting, so I have no idea when I would have had a chance to talk, or when this meeting would end.

Once I finally had the board’s attention, as I was leaving, I stated in a vey polite manner that I had served on my former town’s bike and pedestrian advisory board for five years, and the first item on the agenda was always people who randomly showed up. I said that since they were a citizen advisory board, I would assume they want citizen input. If they want a meeting conducive to welcoming citizen input, then when someone new shows up, they need to ask them if there is a specific reason why they are there and give them time to speak. Perhaps other people would just interrupt, but I am not like that. You can’t expect someone to sit through an entire meeting waiting for a chance to speak, especially if that person is never given an agenda and never informed when they can speak. All of them seemed quite surprised and perhaps to an extent concerned by my comments. I think they would have welcomed my concerns, it just didn’t occur to them that they should ask me for them. I am quite surprised by all this. This is quite a large municipality, and I can’t believe no one shows up with a concern. Then again, it took me forever to find out about this board, and I was actively searching. Perhaps barely anyone else knows they exist.  Once I shared my annoyance and disappointment with the board, they then seemed to want to know what my concern was. I had previously given the chair my e-mail address, so he asked if he could email me. I said of course, I just had to leave to catch a bus.

So now I am annoyed. I wasted two hours of my life and got nothing accomplished. Not only did I not get to talk to the board or anyone else about my concern with pedestrian walk lights, I am now annoyed with the way this particular board operates. I want to know if other citizen boards work like this. How do they expect to get input from the public if they don’t make their meetings conducive to receive input? How are concerned citizens even supposed to find these boards when they are not advertised all that well. So now, I have a new quest. Besides getting pedestrian lights changed, I now want to change how this board operates. I want my municipality to advertise these citizen boards better. So who do I have to talk to about this?

Thus my new municipality, I am putting you on notice. Geeky Girl Engineer is annoyed. I did not sit idly by when I get annoyed. No, I go annoy other people until I get things changed. I am a persistent little bugger, too. You have been warned.